12 History Lessons + 7 Births & 7 Deaths for September 15, 2025
Today’s History:
- 1789 – The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs is renamed the Department of State by act of Congress.
- 1821 – Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua declare independence from Spain.
- 1830 – Opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway; MP William Huskisson is fatally struck by the locomotive Rocket.
- 1916 – First use of tanks in battle by Britain at Flers–Courcelette during the Somme offensive.
- 1935 – Nazi Germany enacts the Nuremberg Laws stripping Jews of citizenship and rights.
- 1940 – “Battle of Britain Day”: the RAF turns back large Luftwaffe raids over southern England.
- 1950 – Korean War: UN forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur land at Incheon, outflanking North Korean lines.
- 1963 – Ku Klux Klan bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church kills four girls and injures dozens.
- 1971 – The first Greenpeace voyage departs Vancouver to protest U.S. nuclear testing at Amchitka.
- 1997 – The domain google.com is registered, a year before the company is incorporated.
- 2008 – Lehman Brothers files for Chapter 11, the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
- 2017 – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft ends its Saturn mission with a controlled plunge into the planet’s atmosphere.
Today’s Birthdays:
- 1946 – Tommy Lee Jones, Academy Award–winning actor (The Fugitive) (79).
- 1946 – Oliver Stone, Oscar-winning filmmaker (Platoon; JFK) (79).
- 1961 – Dan Marino, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Miami Dolphins) (64).
- 1977 – Tom Hardy, actor (Mad Max: Fury Road; The Revenant) (48).
- 1984 – Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, British royal and philanthropist (41).
- 1981 – Ben Schwartz, actor/comedian (Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Recreation; voice of Sonic the Hedgehog) (44).
- 1971 – Josh Charles, actor (Dead Poets Society; The Good Wife) (54).
Today’s Deaths:
- 1830 – William Huskisson, British statesman; first widely reported railway-passenger fatality (60).
- 1859 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pioneering British civil & mechanical engineer (53).
- 1973 – Gustaf VI Adolf, King of Sweden (90).
- 1980 – Bill Evans, influential American jazz pianist (51).
- 2004 – Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the Ramones (55).
- 2006 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and author (77).
- 2017 – Harry Dean Stanton, American character actor (Paris, Texas; Twin Peaks) (91).
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